Current Events in January 2013

If you've tried to get any serious work done on a public Wi-Fi network at an airport or convention center, you already know there's a problem, and it's one we deal with everyday on the nation's roads -- congestion.

Just as there are too many cars trying to use a limited quantity of pavement, there are too many laptops, smartphones and other devices trying to use a limited amount of spectrum space. The result is that everything slows down, sometimes crawling to a halt.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a plan to break the logjam. It involves a government-wide effort to free up large amounts of unlicensed wireless spectrum.

Under the plan, the FCC will take its first steps next month to unleash up to 195 megahertz of spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band. If successful, the project would increase speeds and alleviate Wi-Fi congestion at major hubs, such as airports, convention centers and large conferences, while also improving Wi-Fi speeds on home networks where multiple devices operate simultaneously.

It would be the largest block of unlicensed spectrum to be made available for expansion of Wi-Fi since 2003.

Frequency frustration

"We all know the frustration of Wi-Fi congestion at conferences and airports," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show. "Today, the FCC is moving to bring increased speed and capacity to Wi-Fi networks. As this spectrum comes on line, we expect it to relieve congested Wi-Fi networks at major hubs like convention centers and airports. It will also help in homes as tablets and smartphones proliferate and video use rises."

“When the FCC helped pioneer Wi-Fi nearly thirty years ago - through an innovative spectrum policy that relied on unlicensed use - no one knew the potential it held. But that FCC-created platform for innovation 
gave us cordless phones, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, benefitting consumers and our economy massively. We'll keep nurturing today's Wi-Fi as we also develop a next generation of spectrum policies to drive our mobile future for our innovators and our economy," Genachowski said.

The FCC warned that the effort will require "significant collaboration" with other federal agencies currently using the spectrum.

The current recommended doses for Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist -- widely used sleep drugs that contain the active ingredient zolpidem -- are being scrapped.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it will require the makers of those sleep aids to lower the recommended doses because new data show that zolpidem blood levels in some patients may be high enough the morning after use to impair activities that require alertness -- including driving.

Less residual effect

Using lower doses of zolpidem means less of the drug will remain in the blood in the morning hours. Since women eliminate zolpidem from their bodies more slowly than men, the FDA has notified the manufacturers that the recommended dose should be lowered for women and that the labeling should recommend that health care professionals consider a lower dose for men.

Data show the risk for next-morning impairment is highest for patients taking the extended-release forms of these drugs. The FDA urges health care professionals to caution all patients -- men and women -- who use these products about the risks of next-morning impairment for activities that require complete mental alertness, including driving.

Typical is the case of Darcydola of Prior Lake, MN, who wrote that after taking one 10 mg pill of Ambien, she woke up in her kitchen. "I had made a disaster of the kitchen looking for food," she said in a ConsumerAffairs post. "I spoke on the phone to my boyfriend and was sobbing apparently. I also sent him strange emails. I have no memory of any of this. This medication should be taken off the market."

A bit more extreme is the experience of  L. of Waldorf, MD. "I made phone calls to a woman and told her that her husband had an affair," she told ConsumerAffairs."I beat up on my husband, drove and hit a pole. I have no memory of any of this. My husband told me what happened. I somehow took 17 pills in 3 days! It's a wonder I am not dead. I have to pick up the pieces to my life now. I am reading the internet about this drug, I don't know how it remains on the market. If legal troubles are the result of this, I just might sue!"

Lowering the dose

The FDA has informed the manufacturers that the recommended dosage of zolpidem for women should be lowered from 10 milligrams (mg) to 5 mg for immediate-release products (Ambien, Edluar, and Zolpimist) and from 12.5 mg to 6.25 mg for extended-release products (Ambien CR).

For men, the FDA has informed the manufacturers that the labeling should recommend that healthcare professionals consider prescribing these lower doses (5 mg for immediate-release products and 6.25 mg for extended-release products). These products are currently available on the market in both the higher and lower dosages. (Both Ambien and Ambien CR are also available as generics)

“To decrease the potential risk of impairment with all insomnia drugs, healthcare professionals should prescribe, and patients should take, the lowest dose capable of treating the patient’s insomnia,” said Ellis Unger, M.D., director, Office of Drug Evaluation I in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Patients who must drive in the morning or perform some other activity requiring full alertness should talk to their health care professional about whether their sleep medicine is appropriate.”

Changes are study-driven

The labeling change is based on findings in driving simulation and laboratory studies showing that, in some individuals, zolpidem blood levels the morning after use appear capable of impairing driving to a degree that increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident.

“Over the years FDA has received spontaneous adverse event reports of driving impairment and motor vehicle accidents associated with zolpidem, but these reports lacked the information necessary to fully understand whether and how zolpidem affected people’s mental alertness and ability to drive,” said Dr. Unger. “Recently, data from clinical trials and other types of studies have become available, which allowed FDA to better characterize the risk of next-morning impairment.”

Morning impairment is common

The FDA also reminded the public that morning impairment is not limited to zolpidem. Drowsiness is listed as a common side effect in the labels of all insomnia drugs, along with warnings that people may still feel drowsy the next day after taking one of these products. Moreover alertness can be impaired even in people who do not feel drowsy.

People who are currently taking the higher doses (10 mg or 12.5 mg) of zolpidem-containing insomnia medicines should continue taking the prescribed dose as directed until discussing with their health care professional how to safely continue to take the medicine. Patients should read the Medication Guide that comes along with their medication for additional information on the benefits and risks of these products.

The FDA is continuing to evaluate the risk of impaired mental alertness with other insomnia drugs, including over-the-counter (nonprescription) drugs.  

It's been turbulent flying recently for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner passenger jet.

This past Monday, an electrical fire was discovered aboard an empty Japan Airlines (JAL) 787 scheduled for departure from Boston's Logan International Airport. The following day a JAL flight to Tokyo aborted takeoff from Logan after a crewmember on another airplane spotted the Dreamliner leaking fuel

As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will conduct a comprehensive review of the 787's critical systems -- including the design, manufacture and assembly. The purpose of the review is to validate the work conducted during the certification process and further ensure that the aircraft meets the FAA’s safety standards.

“The safety of the traveling public is our top priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This review will help us look at the root causes and do everything we can to safeguard against similar events in the future.”

A statement issued by Boeing said the aircraft maker "is confident in the design and performance of the 787," and that it welcomes the review. The statement adds that after 15 months of service, the Dreamliner is showing reliability "well above 90 percent."

Joint review planned

A team of FAA and Boeing engineers and inspectors will conduct the joint review, with an emphasis on the aircraft’s electrical power and distribution system. The review will also examine how the electrical and mechanical systems interact with each other.

“We are confident that the aircraft is safe. But we need to have a complete understanding of what is happening," said FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta. "We are conducting the review to further ensure that the aircraft meets our high safety standards.”

The review will be structured to provide a broader view of design, manufacturing and assembly and will not focus exclusively on individual events. The review is expected to begin in Seattle, but may expand to other locations over the course of several months.

FAA technical experts logged 200,000 hours of work during the 787 type certification and flew on numerous test flights. The FAA reviews 787 in-service events as part of our continued operational safety process.

United Airlines is currently the only U.S. airline operating the 787, with six airplanes delivered. The worldwide in-service fleet includes 50 aircraft.

When it comes to drinking, how much is too much?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), binge drinking, defined for women, is consuming four or more drinks on an occasion). And a new CDC Vital Signs report says more than 14 million U.S. women binge drink about three times per month, consuming an average of six drinks per binge.

That kind of drinking results in about 23,000 deaths in women and girls each year and increases the chances of breast cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy and many other health problems.

Despite these risks, about one in eight adult women and one in five high school girls binge drink. Binge drinking is a problem for all women and girls, but it is most common in high school girls and young women, whites and Hispanics, and among women with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Half of all high school girls who drink alcohol report binge drinking.

Serious health effects

Women's and girls' bodies respond to alcohol differently than men's. It takes less alcohol for them to get intoxicated because of their size and how they process alcohol. Binge drinking can lead to unintended pregnancies, and women and girls who are not expecting to get pregnant may not find out they are until later in their pregnancy.

Further, if women binge drink while pregnant, they risk exposing their baby to high levels of alcohol during its early development, which can lead to miscarriage, low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).

Simply put, alcohol use and pregnancy don't mix; it's not safe to drink at any time during pregnancy.

Binge vs. moderate drinking

Binge drinking is a dangerous drinking pattern that -- as mentioned above -- is defined as the consumption of four or more alcohol drinks for women (or five or more drinks for men) on an occasion. An occasion is generally considered to be about 2-3 hours. Binge drinking usually leads to acute impairment (intoxication), but most binge drinkers are not alcoholics or dependent on alcohol.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans defines moderate drinking as up to one drink a day for women or up to two drinks a day for men. Anyone under the minimum legal drinking age of 21 and women who are pregnant should not drink at all. It is not recommended that anyone begin drinking alcohol or drink more frequently on the basis of potential health benefits.

Binge drinking prevention

The Guide to Community Preventive Services recommends evidence-based strategies for preventing excessive alcohol consumption, including:

• Increasing alcohol taxes.
• Reducing alcohol outlet density (the number and concentration of alcohol retailers in an area).
• Maintaining existing government controls over alcohol sales (avoiding privatization).
• Holding alcohol retailers liable for injuries or damage following illegal service to intoxicated or underage customers (dram shop liability).
• Maintaining or reducing the days and hours of alcohol sales.
• Enhanced enforcement of laws prohibiting sales to minors.
• Electronic screening and counseling for excessive alcohol use.

Health care providers should consider asking all patients about binge drinking and advising those who do to drink less. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening and counseling to reduce alcohol misuse by adults, including pregnant women, in primary care settings.

Deere & Company of Moline, IL, is recalling about 4,650 Gator utility vehicles.

The fuel line can separate, posing a fire hazard. The company has received three reports of separated fuel lines. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves John Deere Gator RSX850i Base, Sport and Trail model recreational utility vehicles manufactured between May 2012 and October 2012. They have side-by-side seating for two people and were available in Realtree Hardwoods HD Camo, olive and black, or traditional green and yellow. RSX850i is located on the hood. The serial number is on the rear frame above the receiver hitch.

Only utility vehicles with the following serial numbers are included in this recall:

The vehicles, manufactured in the U.S., were sold at John Deere dealers nationwide from August 2012 through October 2012 for between $12,900 and $15,500.

Consumers should stop using the recalled utility vehicles and contact a John Deere dealer to schedule a free inspection and free repair. John Deere is contacting all registered owners of the recalled utility vehicles directly.

Consumers may contact Deere and Company at (800) 537-8233, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.

Redbox, one of the "last men standing" in the physical media video wars, is moving into streaming video, partnering with Verizon. The target, of course, is industry leader Netflix.

Called Redbox Instant by Verizon, the new service is now in beta testing. Consumers can register at the beta site for one of a limited number of access codes that are being handed out. Just like Nexflix and Hulu Plus, the site offers online streaming of movies and TV programs.

Netflix, you will remember, also started out as a physical media video service. Members ordered movies that were shipped by mail. It was wildly popular and helped put many brick-and-mortar video stores out of business.

Bumps in the road

Its popularity grew when it added online streaming but the company alienated many customers in 2011 when it changed its policy, charging $8 a month for streaming and another $8 a month for the DVD service.

Meanwhile, Redbox, a division of Coinstar, used its parent's existing relationships with supermarket chains to establish thousands of DVD kiosks nationwide. With the last video store chain out of business, consumers who wanted to rent a DVD on the spur of the moment, and lacked broadband access, had little option but to line up at a kiosk to rent a DVD.

But as anyone who has ever purchased a soft drink or candy bar from a machine well knows, interacting with a machine can bring on a host of problems.

Problems

"I was charged for a movie that was already returned, never received any correspondence that I supposedly had a movie still outstanding -- on the contrary - I do have the confirmation of return email in my inbox, an anonymous poster wrote at ConsumerAffairs.

The problem escalated, the consumer writes, when Redbox would only offer a $10 refund, not the total $27, even though the consumer had proof the movie was returned.

James, of Hartford City, Ind., writes that Redbox has been charging him twice for movies that he returned after one day.

"I really didn't notice it at first," James writes. "I returned a movie last week and my account went $20 in the negative and I knew I did nothing wrong."

An alternative to machines

In fact, many of the reviews about Redbox in the ConsumerAffairs database stem from problems with Redbox kiosks. Lori, of Ogilvie, Minn., writes that she rented a particular movie from a Redbox kiosk and got a movie different than the one she selected. Again, anyone who has ever bought a Snickers bar from a machine and gotten a bag of chips instead knows things like this can happen.

So perhaps Redbox Instant will give its current customers an alternative to ordering movies from a machine. Will it catch on?

Initial reviews of the beta service have been mixed. Some users, posting online, have praised the streaming quality of movies. Others have said it's terrible.

CNET, a technology site, opines that the new service "is no Netflix killer." Barron's, a business publication, says it doesn't have to be. With the number of customers it already has, it should be able to enter the streaming market on firm footing and be profitable.

And Redbox Instant may have something else going for it as well. Its monthly fee is $8 a month, the same as Netflix's. But as part of the deal each streaming customer will get access codes for four free rentals at Redbox kiosks each month. A pretty good deal, as long as those machines work the way they're supposed to.

How they stack up

• Netflix: $8 a month for streaming, $8 a month for DVD rentals
• Amazon Prime: $79 a year ($6.59 per month); access to 5000 videos plus free 2-day shipping of Amazon.com orders and free borrowing of thousands of Kindle e-books
• Hulu Plus: $8 a month for instant access to current TV shows and a large movie library

The federal government, for the first time since the housing market collapse, is setting standards for what constitutes a "qualified mortgage," a move that may both help and hurt the real estate market.

The new rules come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is taking responsibility for defining for banks what is a good loan and what is a risky one. The CFPB is defining a "qualified mortgage" as a loan to a consumer whose total debt burden is no more than 43 percent of his income.

The new rules also limit some upfront fees and riskier lending practices, such as interest-only loans. CFPB will also establish standards that income borrowers must have to get a home loan.

Will probably limit number of mortgages

While the new rules are expected, by their very nature, to reduce the number of prospective buyers who can qualify for a mortgage, they could end up making the mortgage process a bit easier for more applicants.

When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill in 2010, it protected banks from lawsuits if they made what the law called a "qualified mortgage." However, Congress failed to define exactly what that was.

Housing market analysts say that resulted in much tighter and more cumbersome restrictions in the mortgage lending industry. Without knowing exactly what constituted a "qualified mortgage," bankers were left to guess, and they often made application requirements tougher than they needed to be.

Consumer advocates respond

Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), says the new rules are a step in the right direction.

"The standard CFPB establishes for a safe, well-underwritten mortgage is appropriately broad enough to include the vast majority of creditworthy home owners, and it is clear enough for lenders and borrowers alike to understand," Calhoun said. "And the rules preserve legal protection for borrowers with the riskiest loans."

Calhoun says the rules directly address a key cause of the mortgage meltdown and ensuing recession: lenders who made high-risk, often deceptively packaged home loans without assessing if borrowers could repay them. Because of these reforms, he says lenders now must actually assess a mortgage borrower’s ability to repay. While it is true many lower-income consumers will not be able to qualify for a mortgage under the rules, the rules also protect them from harmful loan terms such as balloon payments, teaser rates and high fees.

"Ideally the new rules would have allowed all holders of a qualified mortgage to challenge loans when lenders don’t follow the law," Calhoun said. "However, they do allow borrowers to hold lenders accountable on the riskiest types of mortgages -- those in the subprime market where the problems that led to the housing crisis were concentrated."

Industry reaction

Debra Still, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), was also generally supportive of the new rules, saying they will bring stability to the mortgage market.

"The rule was just issued, and we must examine it carefully," she said. "Nevertheless, we applaud the Bureau for offering a legal safe harbor to lenders when they originate loans that meet the rigorous ‘qualified mortgage’ standards in the rule. This approach should allow lenders to offer sustainable mortgage credit to a great number of qualified borrowers without having to risk unreasonable and overly punitive litigation and penalties."

Many housing experts have believed uncertainty over what was a "qualified mortgage" prompted some lenders to deny loans to otherwise qualified borrowers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has complained that overly tight lending criteria have prevented the housing market from recovering as quickly as it might have.

While some consumers with high levels of credit card debt will be excluded from obtaining a mortgage, the new rules may make banks more confident when they do make loans, making mortgages more accessible to those who qualify.

The evidence seems to be mounting that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in food and beverage packaging, is not a very healthy substance, though it continues to be used in some applications.

Researchers at the NYU School of Medicine say BPA appears to be associated with a biomarker for higher risk of heart and kidney disease in children and adolescents. Their lab studies suggest even low levels of BPA can increase oxidative stress and inflammation that promotes protein leakage into the urine.

Dr. Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, associate professor of pediatrics and co-author of the study, says that's a biomarker for early renal impairment and future risk of developing coronary heart disease. A biomarker is an indicator of a biological state.

Study isn't definitive

"While our cross-sectional study cannot definitively confirm that BPA contributes to heart disease or kidney dysfunction in children, together with our previous study of BPA and obesity, this new data adds to already existing concerns about BPA as a contributor to cardiovascular risk in children and adolescents," Trasande said. "It further supports the call to limit exposure of BPA in this country, especially in children.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year banned the use of BPA in infant formula bottles and sippy cups used by children. By then, however, many manufacturers had stopped using it and some major retailers, such as Walmart, no longer sold plastic items for children that contain it.

BPA acts as a hardening agent in plastic. It was once quite common in water bottles but many bottlers have stopped using it. Manufacturers say the chemical provides an antiseptic function and it is still widely used in food containers, particularly as liners for canned food.

Cans are key

"Removing it from aluminum cans is probably one of the best ways we can limit exposure," Trasande said. "There are alternatives that manufacturers can use to line aluminum cans."

The study adds to the growing concerns about BPA, which studies have shown disrupts multiple mechanisms of human metabolism. A number of studies have focused on BPA's effect on human reproduction. A 2011 study found the widespread chemical causes lower fertility in mice.

A 2012 study found that exposure to BPA can affect adult learning and another study last year suggested exposure to BPA can last generations. It prompted Campbell's Soups last year to announce it would phase out BPA use in soup cans.

On the money

A 2011 study even found that BPA from grocery receipts showed up on the world's currency.

Children in the U.S. are exposed to the chemical early in life and surveys have shown that by age six nearly 92 percent of children have some trace of BPA in their urine. Its use has been banned in the European Union and Canada.

While banning it in children's bottles and cups, the FDA says the amounts of BPA used in food packaging is not harmful to humans.

You may shop at stores and online, but chances are you prefer one over the other. Which is it -- or have you even thought about it?

Some who have thought about it are the people at Continuum, a global consulting firm. They set out to interview consumers across the U.S. and uncover their reasons for shopping in-store or online. Their findings, they admit, were something of a surprise.

Convenience rules

First, a lot of consumers still prefer to shop in stores. Of those, 40 percent said it's for convenience. Another 22 percent said they don't trust the quality online. They want to see it in a store before buying it.

About 17 percent mentioned that they don't want to pay for shipping, or deal with online returns. Another 17 percent said they feel they get a better price in a store and four percent said they simply prefer to interact with people. That last one is a surprise, considering all the complaints to ConsumerAffairs about dealing with store personnel.

Showrooming fears misplaced?

The big surprise, according to Continuum, is that price is not the biggest reason for choosing a shopping venue. Retailers are convinced that's the overriding consideration and explains their near panic over "showrooming," the practice of consumers finding something they want in a store, then using their smartphones to find a better price online.

Why do people prefer to shop online? These consumers also cite convenience, believing it is more convenient to order the item than go look for it in a store. Forty-three percent cited convenience as their number one reason while another 29 percent said it's easier to find what they are looking for online than in a store.

Twenty-five percent believe they will get a better price online and three percent said they wanted to avoid interaction with store employees. The only surprise there is that the number isn't larger.

Consumers like to 'showroom'

Retailers may hate showrooming but their efforts to fight it may be doomed to failure. It seems to be something shoppers enjoy, with 70 percent saying they found browsing in stores and then finding the product cheaper online was a satisfying experience.

And it's clear, from reviews posted at ConsumerAffairs, that many in-store shoppers find various aspects of the experience frustrating.

Frustrations

"Yesterday I called the Target in Allen Park, Michigan for a specific item," Linda, of Southgate, Mich., wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. "I was told they had it and would hold for me until following day. They said they would put my name on the item and hold it at the service desk. I was excited because it was what my grandson wanted for his birthday, The following day I went to this Target and nothing was left for me. Of course I was very disappointed and ended up with nothing. I made a special trip and it was a waste of time."

However, even online shoppers can run into the same sort of problems. Mike, of Concord, N.C., wrote to ConsumerAffairs that he purchased a tricycle online at Walmart.com and arranged to have it picked up at another store. It should have been easy, or so he thought.

"After the order it was okayed, in stock - no worry the order was done, " he wrote. "I checked my e-mail at a later time and Walmart has canceled my order, saying item out of stock. I would think with the great computer systems that they wound not have taken my order if they where out of stock with this item."

Whether it is serving in-store or online consumers, Continuum concludes retailers can do a better job to satisfy their customers.

"There is clearly a benefit for retailers to concentrate not only on price but also how they are designing as holistic an experience as possible for their customers to be able to efficiently interact with their brand whether it is in-person or online," said Craig LaRosa, Principal of Continuum's Service Design group. "A one-size-fits-all approach does not work when it comes to designing a great customer experience or service."

Among all of the fiscal cliff talk that has taken place over the last few weeks, many haven’t noticed that the Warrantless Wiretapping Law was quietly signed by President Obama recently.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, allows government entities to legally engage in surveillance on U.S. citizens, both internationally and domestically, as long as at least one person in the communication is outside of the U.S.

This has caused a great deal of civil rights and privacy concerns among private citizens as well as some in the Senate.

FISA, which was originally established in 1978, was first amended in 2001 under the USA Patriot act shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, then ammended again in 2008.

The act states that intelligence agencies are able to listen to phone calls and look into email exchanges and Internet activity if a person is considered suspicious of wrongdoing or considered a terrorist threat.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson was just one of the people in favor of extending FISA and says that regardless of the privacy or civil rights concerns that others may have, FISA has kept America safe.

“I have supported FISA and the FISA Amendments Act because our ability to gather information about known and suspected terrorists has proven instrumental to keeping Americans safe,” he wrote in a recent letter. “While intelligence and law enforcement agencies need the tools to do that job, it’s also critically important that we protect the rights and privacy of law-abiding citizens.”

FISA gives phone and Internet companies the legal right to hand over customer records to government agencies if a person is deemed suspicious or is believed to be communicating with someone to commit some sort of terrorist act -- and protects them from litigation that may result from their doing so.

Worried about privacy

In a TV interview, U.S. policy analyst Webster Tarpley said if consumers were worried about their privacy being threatened under the Patriot Act in 2001, they should be equally worried today, since the bill hasn’t been amended to include any of the concerns voiced by private citizens or public officials.

“The Federal government in effect can wiretap you, they can snoop on you, they can break into your house—all the things that Bush and Cheney did,” said Tarpley.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who was one of the critics of the bill being extended, said that he has concerns that FISA goes against Americans' constitutional rights to be protected against arbitrary searches and surveillance.

“I’m concerned about the government’s ability without a warrant to search through FISA materials for communications involving individual American citizens. I worry that this authority is inconsistent with and diminishes the essential constitutional right that each of us has to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures," he said.

Other critics of the act say the federal government is using the fears of citizens, especially after 9/11, to convince them that wiretapping is among the best ways to protect America, and it's the main reason the United States hasn’t experienced an attack since 9/11.

The extension of FISA passed in September of 2012 with a House vote of 301 to 118. The extension will last until 2017.

Mortgage rates, as charted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com, are heading higher following an employment report for December that some economists took as positive.

Freddie Mac says the 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.40 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 10, 2013 -- its highest reading in eight weeks.  The week before the FRM averaged 3.34 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.89 percent.

The 15-year FRM week averaged 2.66 percent with an average 0.7 point, versus last week's average of 2.64 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.16 percent.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.67 percent this week with an average 0.6 point. That's a decline from last week, when it averaged 2.71 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 2.82 percent.

The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.60 percent with an average 0.5 point, compared with 2.57 percent last week and 2.76 percent a year ago.

"Fixed mortgage rates increased slightly following a positive employment report for December,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. “The economy added 155,000 jobs, above the consensus market forecast, and November's job growth was revised upward by another 24,000 workers. This helped keep the unemployment rate steady at 7.8 percent, the lowest since December 2008. For all of 2012, 1.86 million jobs were created and represented the largest annual gain since 2006."

Bankrate.com survey

Bankrate.com says the idea that the Federal Reserve will eventually have to stop buying mortgage bonds to keep rates low sent rates higher.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.67 percent from 3.58 percent, according to Bankrate.com's national survey of large lenders. The mortgages in this survey had an average total of 0.32 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index stood at 4.18 percent; four weeks ago, it was 3.52 percent.

This is the highest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in nearly four months. The last time it was higher was the Sept. 19, 2012, survey, when the 30-year fixed averaged 3.7 percent.

The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 2.92 percent from 2.88 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 2.77 percent from 2.76 percent.

This may sound like nagging, but have you received your flu shot yet? Even though we're closing in on mid-January, it's still not too late if you haven't.

"Everyone seems to know that the elderly are particularly vulnerable, but so too are children," said William Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatrician at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "Severe complications are most common in children under age two, and all children ages six months and older should be immunized."

Rodriguez notes that in each of the last 10 flu seasons, between 43 and 153 children died from influenza in the U.S. An average 20,000 children a year under age five are hospitalized. So far this year, 16 deaths of children under age 18 have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Forty-three states are currently reporting widespread flu outbreaks, with the District of Columbia and remaining states -- Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Montana, South Dakota and Missouri -- reporting localized outbeaks.

There's still time

People are generally immunized in the fall, but they can still get protection from the flu for what remains of the flu season -- even though immunization takes several weeks to take effect. The season usually peaks in January or February, with some cases continuing into the spring and even beyond.

"This is particularly late in the flu season for very young children, because to optimize immune response, children between the ages of 6 and 35 months need two shots, four weeks apart, during their first season of vaccination," said Rodriguez. "However, even one shot provides some protection, so even now there is time to get some benefit."

As of the end of November 2012, 112 million Americans were immunized for this flu season, leaving the majority unprotected as of that time, according to CDC.

Although some locations have stopped offering the flu vaccine, which each year is approved by FDA, supplies remain available. Consumers can find out where to get a flu shot by calling doctor's offices, clinics, pharmacies and supermarkets.

The complexity of the tax code was named the “most serious” problem facing taxpayers in the 2012 annual report to Congress by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson. And she's recommending that lawmakers take significant steps to simplify it.

In her report, Olson also found that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not doing enough to assist victims of tax-related identity theft and return preparer fraud. She also expressed concern that the IRS is not adequately funded to serve taxpayers and collect tax, and identified ways in which this chronic underfunding harms taxpayers. She also found that the IRS is not doing enough to assist victims of tax-related identity theft and return preparer fraud.

Crushing burden

“The existing tax code makes compliance difficult, requiring taxpayers to devote excessive time to preparing and filing their returns,” Olson wrote. “It obscures comprehension, leaving many taxpayers unaware how their taxes are computed and what rate of tax they pay; it facilitates tax avoidance by enabling sophisticated taxpayers to reduce their tax liabilities and provides criminals with opportunities to commit tax fraud; and it undermines trust in the system by creating an impression that many taxpayers are not compliant, thereby reducing the incentives that honest taxpayers feel to comply.”

The report states that the tax code imposes a “significant, even unconscionable, burden on taxpayers.” Since 2001, Congress has made nearly 5,000 changes to the tax code, an average of more than one a day, and the number of words in the code appears to have reached nearly four million.

An analysis of IRS data by the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) shows that individuals and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours a year complying with tax-filing requirements. “If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States,” the report says. “To consume 6.1 billion hours, the ‘tax industry’ requires the equivalent of more than three million full-time workers.”

Individual taxpayers find return preparation so overwhelming that few do it on their own. Nearly 60 percent of taxpayers hire paid preparers, and another 30 percent rely on commercial software, with leading software packages costing $50 or more. In other words, taxpayers must spend money just to figure out how much money they owe.

Simplification urged

To reduce taxpayer burden and enhance public confidence in the integrity of the tax system, the report urges Congress to greatly simplify the tax code. In general, this means Congress should reassess the need for existing income exclusions, exemptions, deductions and credits (generally known as “tax expenditures”).

For fiscal year (FY) 2013, the Joint Committee on Taxation has projected that tax expenditures will come to about $1.09 trillion, while individual income tax revenue is projected to be about $1.36 trillion. To put these numbers in perspective, if Congress were to eliminate all tax expenditures, straight math indicates it could cut individual income tax rates by 44 percent and still generate the same amount of revenue it collects under current rules.

Tax-related identity theft

The number of tax-related identity theft incidents has increased substantially in recent years. Within TAS, identity theft case receipts increased by more than 650 percent from FY 2008 to FY 2012. At the end of FY 2012, the IRS had almost 650,000 identity-theft cases in its inventory service-wide. The problem has grown worse as organized criminal actors have found ways to steal the Social Security numbers (SSNs) of taxpayers, file tax returns using those taxpayers’ names and SSNs, and obtain fraudulent tax refunds.

Then, when the real taxpayer files a return claiming the refund, that return is rejected. The impact on victims is significant. More than 75 percent of taxpayers filing returns are due refunds, which average some $3,000 and are not paid until the IRS fully resolves a case.

The report says the IRS has created numerous task forces and other teams in recent years in an attempt to improve its identity theft processes, yet victims still face the same “labyrinth of procedures and drawn-out time frames for resolution” that they faced five years ago. The IRS is instructing its employees to advise identity theft victims that it will take 180 days -- half a year -- to resolve their cases. Complicated cases inevitably will take longer. Thus, the IRS’s procedural changes are not providing faster relief.

IRS funding

The IRS budget has been reduced in each of the last two fiscal years, and appears likely to face further cuts in coming years. Although these cuts reflect across-the-board reductions in federal discretionary spending, underfunding the IRS makes no sense, Olson said.

“The IRS is materially different from other discretionary programs in that it serves as the de facto Accounts Receivable Department of the federal government. Each dollar appropriated for the IRS generates substantially more than one dollar in additional revenue. It is therefore ironic and counterproductive that concerns about the deficit are leading to cuts in the IRS budget, when those cuts are making the deficit larger.” Olson added: “The plain truth is that the IRS’s mission trumps all other agencies’ missions, because without an effective revenue collector, you can’t fund those other agencies.”

Cash registers were chirping more during the 2012 holiday season than they did the year before, according to ShopperTrak, which keeps tabs on the retail industry.

ShopperTrak estimates that during November and December 2012, national retail sales increased 2.5 percent and foot traffic also increased 2.5 percent when compared with the same two months last year. The firm's initial data indicate that shoppers spent $248.8 billion during this period. The U.S. Department of Commerce will release its December general merchandise, apparel and accessories, furniture and other sales (GAFO) sales numbers in February.

The 2012 Christmas shopping season marked the third consecutive year with positive total retail sales. It also was the second holiday season of the past three with positive foot traffic changes.

"Our data indicates that more people visited more stores this holiday season than the previous year," said ShopperTrak Founder Bill Martin. "Retailers who understood their foot traffic were able to staff, stock and market to best serve their customers, ultimately converting more of the browsers into buyers."

Ending on a strong note

The 2012 holiday season had the longest interval possible between Black Friday and Christmas. Within these 32 days, shoppers had an extra weekend of shopping. As a result, many consumers procrastinated in finishing their holiday shopping.

But once the late-bloomers headed out to stores, their last-minute shopping and post-Christmas exchanges drove large increases in both retail sales and foot traffic during the final days of December. ShopperTrak forecasts that for the week ending Dec. 29, sales increased 18 percent and traffic increased 14.4 percent from the same period last year. This indicates the largest year-over-year increase of the holiday season.

"Heavy discounting by retailers at the end of December led to increases in shopper activity across the board," said Martin.

Late-December boom

Indeed, ShopperTrak estimates that three of the busiest foot traffic days occurred in late December. Though "Black Weekend" held its own -- Black Friday, Nov. 23, retains the top spot and Saturday, Nov. 24 comes in as the fifth-busiest traffic day -- the weekends leading up to Christmas saw the most shoppers at stores and malls. ShopperTrak reports that "Super Saturday," Dec. 22, was the second-busiest shopping day of the season, followed by Saturday, Dec. 15 in third and Sunday, Dec. 23 ranking fourth.

Similarly, the top sales days of the holidays took place largely toward the end of the season. Black Friday again led the pack, followed by Super Saturday. Dec. 23, Dec. 21, and Dec. 15, in that order, rounded out the top five best sales days of the holidays. They helped to close the holiday season on a high note, according to Martin.

"The presidential election and Hurricane Sandy drew consumers' attention away from shopping at the outset of the holiday retail season," said Martin. "However, lower unemployment, higher consumer confidence and stable gas prices positively influenced shoppers to make purchases this holiday season."

For those interested in learning more about their family history, the Internet has made it much easier to do so.

In the past, one had to do a lot of physical legwork to gather old family information, which usually included hunting down old records, maybe going from town to town, and speaking with a lot of people to secure names, places and family facts.

But today, sites like Geneology.com and FamilySearch.org have provided a bunch of resources for people to use in their family history search, and for a fee, these sites promise to remove a lot of the time and effort that surrounds building a family tree.

Arguably, the most popular of these family search sites is Ancestry.com -- probably for its string of TV commercials that shows people discussing their experiences  and rambling on about how supposedly successful they were at pulling in all of the family information that they were looking for.

The site got its start years ago in Provo, Utah, partly as an outgrowth of the Mormon church's interest in geneology. But it quickly grew into a globe-girdling business and was sold late last year for $1.6 billion to the European private equity firm Permira and other investors.

In 2011, Ancestry.com reported a 33 percent increase in annual income, to nearly $400 million, with net income up 71 percent, to almost $63 million.

Ancestry.com claims to be the world’s largest family history website, with more than 2 million subscribers who have created about 39 million family trees and about 4 billion profiles of people.

That's all fine but to get an idea of what consumers had to say about Ancestry.com, we looked at reviews surrounding the site and tried to determine if things worked as the company promises and if customers found it worthwhile to shell out the amount of money required to get started.

Billing issues

Ancestry.com says it has about 2 million customers and no doubt it does. But how many of them are there willingly? Of the readers we've heard from, many reported they had been unable to cancel the service. Others were steamed about billing problems.

“December 2, 2012 my expired credit card was charged for a six-month subscription renewal,” wrote one consumer from Hawaii.

“I did not update my information because the email I received on December 1, 2012 stated the following: ‘Please update your payment information. We attempted to contact you recently about your Ancestry.com membership. Unless we receive updated payment information, your Ancestry.com membership will be closed in 11 days.’”

“To most people, that would mean you do not have to call, email or go through the website to cancel your membership.  I called Ancestry.com and was told that they gave me a grace period and my subscription expired October 2012. So I asked them if the membership expired and the credit card expired 7/2012, why did they charge the expired card December 2, 2012?”

“She told me I can leave a message after completing the 3-question survey at the end of the call,” our reader reported. Numerous attempts went nowhere.

Rusty, of Monroeville, Penn., had a similar problem.

“They say the trial is free, you think you cancelled, but the bills will keep coming. I did not notice the charges for several months. The first statement after my cancellation was clean, after that the charges started. I used the service for one day and paid over $100. I received no additional billing emails or letters.”

“After catching them, they acted like it was my fault and this is the first time it happened,” added Rusty. “I wished I would have checked this website before logging on.”

Does it work?

But beyond the billing issues, does the service actually work?

Doug of Oak Harbor, Wash. says he’s been doing business with Ancestry.com for a long time and although he’s found some of the services helpful, he’s run into a couple of snags that prevented him from gathering the family data that he was looking for.

He explained that although Ancestry.com has improved the amount of online resources it offers, if you happen to be an ardent fact-finder yourself, you most likely would have tapped into these same resources on your own.

Unfortunately, Doug didn’t get the help he was looking for from the site, but he did get the same billing headaches that many of our readers experienced.

Kellie of Virginia said that although Ancestry.com was able to pull up a map of the area that her family is from in Ireland, all of the help stopped there and she was on her own. 

“The county couldn’t find anything and I mean anything,” she wrote.

“So I contacted Ancestry.com and got a very snooty guy who basically told me that they don’t guarantee anything. What?! I tried to get the map to come up again, but never could. So, I was not only out the money I spent at Ancestry.com, but also the Irish research money that was clearly a waste.”

Be wary

So although having a little Internet assistance is nice when doing a family history search, you may have to prepare yourself for a lot of billing issues, which unfortunately is the case with many web-based companies.

You may also have to prepare yourself for not being able to find the information that you're looking for, which probably happens more times than the company is willing to mention.

We asked Ancestry.com for a response to the problems cited by our readers and got this:

"Ancestry.com strives to provide the best service possible for our members. We have recently introduced a comprehensive online customer support portal where customers can find assistance for a variety of topics, listed here."  

"These features include the ability to search a variety of articles, interact with other Ancestry.com members through the 'Ask the Community' feature, and the ability to contact us directly."

"Regarding our subscription terms, Ancestry.com has a customer-orinted refund policy which allows our members to cancel immediately at anytime, either online or by contacting customer support directly at 1-800-Ancestry."

"Customers can receive a refund up to 30 days on a new subcription and up to 7 days for a renewed subscription. Refunds are not given for monthly subscriptions. Ancestry.com Terms and Conditions are listed here." 

"We encourage customers to contact us directly if they have a specific concern they feel has not been resolved to their satisfaction via the methods mentioned above."

Samsung has released so many new technologies at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that nobody can figure out which ones to write about. But for the general couch-bound consumer, probably the biggest news is that TVs are getting bigger again. Sharper too.

For a little while there, it seemed that we would all be watching TV on our smartphones and tablets but Samsung has broken that model wide open with a gigantic 85-inch TV.

Of course, bigger isn't always better. Remember the original big-screen TVs?  They were the size of a car but the picture left a lot to be desired.

Not this time around. Samsung has not only introduced some truly gigantic screens, it's also increased the resolution nearly fourfold. The current standard for high-def is a horizontal resolution of 1,080 pixels which is, as they say, mighty fine. But even finer is Samsung's new 4,000-pixel standard, already known simply as 4K, and also as UHD, for ultra-high definition.

Now, having a screen that can reproduce a 4k image doesn't do you much good without the image, so Samsung has built in circuitry that takes a 1080p image and "rezzes it up," to to speak, to 4k.

Smart TV

Besides the bigger screens and higher definition, Samsung has also made numerous improvements to its suite of Smart TV applications, including a search tool that lets you search cable, over-the-air and Internet sources when you're looking for a particular show or series.

As promised, Samsung unveiled its "Evolution Kit," which enables Samsung 2012 Smart TVs to evolve into Samsung’s new 2013 Smart TVs. By simply attaching the Evolution Kit device into the back of a Samsung Smart TV, consumers can enjoy the latest features that the 2013 Smart TVs have to offer.

With hardware enhancements, such as CPU, memory and GPU up to the level of the latest Smart TV, users can enjoy faster speeds for browsing the Internet and multitask by using apps while watching TV, the company said.

In addition, Samsung’s Smart Interaction features such as voice control and motion control will be enhanced. Once the Evolution Kit is attached to the slot, 2012 Smart Hub is transformed to 2013 version. Every year, consumers will now be able to enjoy the latest services with Samsung's Smart TVs, according to Samsung.

Sales of TVs have been slumping lately, partly because consumers have been throwing money at tablets and smartphones. With its Evolution Kit, Samsung appears to be hoping to convince consumers they can upgrade their TV today without worrying about it becoming obsolete in the next year or two.

Skeptics may point to the rash of early failures in Samsung TVs over the last few years. And in fact, it's usually wise to avoid the leading edge in any kind of electronic gear. Early versions tend to have more problems and, of equal importance, the price tends to come down as a new technology becomes more commonplace.

It's also good to remember that these are not your father's TVs. Modern electronic gear isn't exactly delicate but it is very sensitive to heat, spikes and surges, so don't count on getting more than a few years of service. Budget accordingly.

In many countries around the world, playing in youth sports is a big part of growing up. Whether teams are sponsored by schools or an organized sports league, many parents want their children to experience what sports can provide, like the camaraderie of being on a team, learning how to win and lose gracefully and getting a good amount of exercise.

But in recent years, concussions have been on the minds of parents and physicians alike, due to several stories about children and adults suffering head injuries and concussions from falling or being hit while playing.

Although there has been some research conducted on the relationship between children, sports and concussions, and certain measures have been taken to ensure children are safer--like the redesigning of helmets--the U.S. government has yet to conduct a study that focuses on the long-term effects of concussions in children.

This very type of study will be conducted by The Institute of Medicine, an independent non-profit research organization. Researchers will track children who suffer concussions and other head injuries into adulthood, in an effort to see if there are lasting effects from injuries that might otherwise be shrugged off. The study will also seek ways to prevent these kinds of injuries from happening in the first place.

Silent epidemic

Just last month, the state of Ohio took a first step towards keeping kids safer while playing sports, when Governor John Kasich signed a law that would require each child to get a note from a doctor if they wish to return to sports after being injured and showing signs of a concussion.

Although getting clearance from a physician after a head injury seems like common sense and many parents would probably take this measure on their own, the new law will help lower the chances of an injured child falling through the cracks and returning to sports prematurely.

In addition, coaches and referees of youth sport leagues will be required to undergo  online training, which Ohio state representatives believe will better educate adults about concussions and how to prevent them.

Dr. Joseph Congeni, who is the medical director of the Sports Medicine Center at Akron Children’s Hospital, said that injuries to the brain are unique compared to other sports injuries, for the mere fact the extent of damage isn’t always known right away.

“Brain injuries or concussions that occur in sports are known as ‘the invisible injury’ or the ‘silent epidemic,' because they are not always obvious like other sports injuries,” he wrote in an email to a local news publication.

“For that reason, the fact that many medical disciplines around Ohio such as physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists and chiropractors have come together to help craft and support this bill is important,” he wrote.

Key signs

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), parents should look for key signs if they suspect their child may have a sports related concussion.

First, the CDC emphasizes that most people who get a concussion don’t lose consciousness, so any blow or bump to the head should be taken seriously and investigated for possible damage, even if the person never loses consciousness. The CDC also says that people can get concussions from a quick body movement that forces their head to turn rapidly.

Also, if a child isn’t sure of the score of the game, who they're playing or what game they're involved in, there’s a very high chance they have a concussion, says the CDC.

The government agencies also say feeling pressure in the head or becoming sensitive to light or noise are signs of a concussion, and if one is experiencing nausea, vomiting or vision problems, it could be a sign of brain damage and should be evaluated immediately.

In addition, if one receives a blow to the head during a sporting activity, they should immediately stop playing until they can be seen by a doctor. The CDC also says that some people with concussions don’t show symptoms at all, so they should be monitored for weeks after a head injury, since concussions can stretch out for long periods of time.

Robert Graham who is leading the study at the Institute of Medicine, says he expects a huge reaction to the results once researchers hand in their initial findings at the end of 2013.

“You start talking about, ‘Is it safe for Sally to be playing soccer?' You get lots of public interest,” he said.

Teaching is an increasingly dangerous profession, and not just because a mentally ill person with an automatic rifle might attack a school. According to a new report from the American Psychological Association, most of the danger is from the students themselves.

The report, based on surveys of teachers across the U.S., found alarmingly high incidents in which the teacher experienced physical violence or witnessed it against others. It's an issue that hasn't received enough attention, APA says.

“Violence directed against teachers is a national crisis with far-reaching implications and deserves inclusion in the school violence equation,” said the article’s lead author, Dorothy Espelage, PhD, of the University of Illinois.

Growing problem

Espelage was chair of APA’s Task Force on Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers, which issued a report in 2011. While there have been only 14 studies published on the topic, they all point to a growing problem.

One study, conducted by an APA task force, found that 80 percent of the teachers surveyed reported being victimized at school at least once in the then-current or prior year. Of those, 94 percent said they had been victimized by students -- 44 percent reported being physically attacked and 72 percent reported harassment, while 50 percent said they experienced theft or property damage at school. The findings were based on survey responses from almost 3,000 K-12 teachers in 48 states.

“Because professional training typically does not prepare teachers to deal with violence at school, most lack the skills to prevent challenging behavior from occurring and to respond effectively when it does occur. As such, many teachers have been shocked by frequent violent occurrences in our nation’s schools during recent years and the far-reaching implications of violence,” Espelage said.

Problem in the UK too

This is not just a phenomenon found in American classrooms. British educators have been dealing with the issue for several years.

In 2009 a British teacher claimed her career was wrecked after a schoolgirl poisoned her drinking water with whiteboard cleaning fluid. The teacher sued for damages, but lost the case.

That same year government statistics showed that 14 children age five and under were suspended from primary schools in England daily for violence directed at teachers and other students. In a survey, British teachers said the problem is becoming worse, with children becoming more aggressive at earlier ages.

The APA report provides detailed recommendations to curb the violence against teachers. A first step, the authors write, is creation of a national database to track each incident of classroom violence. The report also suggests teachers get training in “classroom management” as part of receiving a teaching certificate.

“Professional psychologists can play a critical role in helping prevent violence against teachers, which in turn can make school a safer place for all concerned,” Espelage said. “This is a significant yet under-investigated problem in the United States that has profound implications for schooling, teacher retention and over all student performance.”